The poor in Israel increased in number by 65,800 in 1995, 43,700 of whom are children. According to data in the Institute for National Insurance’s poverty report, published today, 737,300 people lived below the poverty line, a 10% increase over the 671,500 in 1994. Children living below the poverty line reached a record 328,300, compared to 284,600 children who lived below the poverty line in 1994, a 15.4% increase.
If not for allocations from the National Insurance Institute, 1,242,600 people in Israel would have lived below the poverty line in 1995. National Insurance payments raised 585,100 over the poverty line last year. 169,700 of these were children.
The number of poverty-stricken families increased last year by 2600 to 207,800, a 1.5% increase. In 1995, the National Insurance Institute widened the overall base of the population included in the poverty report. Groups previously not included in the survey’s base were added, primarily non-Jews.
Due to widening the base of the survey, an apparent decrease took place in the proportion of poor to non-poor for the first time in six years, but this is merely a statistical illusion. The number of poor families in 1995 reached 16.8%, compared to 18% in 1994.
Proportion of Poverty in Various Population
Sectors in Israel
|
|
|
1994
|
1995
|
|
Elderly
|
25%
|
23.5%
|
|
Working Poor
|
7.2%
|
7.8%
|
|
Non-Jews
|
38.5%
|
31.2%
|
|
Single Parent Familes
|
36.8%
|
25.7%
|
|
Large Families
|
37.8%
|
40%
|
|
Immigants
|
24.3%
|
22.1%
|
|
Children
|
22.8%
|
23.2%
|
According to the methods of the last survey, which did not include small communities, there was a 4.3% decrease in poor families and a 1% decrease in the number of persons living beneath the poverty line. There was a 0.4% increase in the number of children living beneath the poverty line.
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Eli Yishai said today, "I am pleased there is a drop in poverty in Israel. This is the beginning of the journey, but should be taken in the correct proportion, as the problem of poverty among employed persons (known as the working poor) and large families is very serious."
National Insurance Director General Yossi Tamir noted the 1995 statistics indicate the beginning of an improvement trend. He noted, however, that from an economic perspective there was no real improvement in the proportion of poor to non-poor in Israel.
According to data from the report, the poverty line according to family size (at November 1996 prices) is NIS 1200 per month for an individual, NIS 1920 per month for a couple, NIS 2544 for a family with two children, NIS 3599 for a family with three children and NIS 4079 for a family with four children.